Design wins org competition, honors Pulse victims
CHARLOTTE, N.C.— A University of North Carolina at Charlotte School of Architecture team of faculty and students has won the 2017 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Small Project Practitioners (SPP) Small Project Design Competition.
The team is made up of architecture professors Marc Manack and Rachel Dickey, Director of Fabrication Labs Alex Cabral, Fabrication Labs Manager and Lecturer McKenzie Canaday and students Jon Warner and Elizabeth Shue. The winning entry will be constructed and showcased at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 in Orlando, Fla. from April 27-29.
The competition challenged participants to design a temporary structure for a 10 feet by 10 feet by 8 feet space that could be easily and inexpensively built. The theme for the competition was “reflection,” and projects had to evoke a strong sense of place by encouraging human interaction.
Acknowledging the location of the AIA national convention, the winning submission, EFFERVESCE, a plastic lattice wall that will stand in the middle of the installation site, responds to the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016. Within the wall’s structure are 49 “vessels,” one for each life lost in the shooting. Each of these modules will contain a simple mechanism with plunger, siphon and bubble wand, allowing visitors to release bubbles into the air, creating a moment of joy in remembrance of the Pulse shooting victims. The names of the 49 will be subtly inscribed into the structure. “Rather than a monument, this memorial is an encounter and an event — a place of interaction and contemplation amid the commotion of the convention environment,” the team wrote in the design proposal.
The elements of EFFERVESCE will be fabricated in the School of Architecture fabrication labs prior to the convention, then assembled at the convention site on April 26. A session on April 28 will allow the team to present their design concept. Following the convention, the team will donate EFFERVESCE to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Central Florida.
Sponsored by AIA National, the SPP Small Project Design Competition is open to architects, associate architects and architecture students.
info: coaa.uncc.edu.
Theatre affinity group hosts event
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Blumenthal Performing Arts LGBTQ Out on the Town affinity group will host a pre-show party before the performance of “Hedwig and The Angry Inc.” on April 13, 6 p.m., at Knight Theatre VIP Room, 430 S. Tryon St.
To attend, RSVP to bcarter@ncbpac.org. To secure tickets, visit the theatre website. Tickets range from $29.50-$99.50 when using the promotional code HEDWIG8 and are available online.
info: blumenthalarts.org.
Fund soirée slated
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund will hold an after-work meet up on April 13, 5:30 p.m., at Vivace, 1100 Metropolitan Ave. #100.
Light hors d’oeuvres will be provided along with a cash bar.
No RSVP is required.
info: fftc.org/clgf.
HOM AIDS walk raises funds
BELMONT, N.C. — The House of Mercy’s 2017 Walk for AIDS will be held on April 22, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m., at the Sisters of Mercy Campus, 500 Mercy Dr.
The annual event raises AIDS awareness and supports the residential facility which provides compassionate care for low-income individuals living with AIDS.
The sisters hope to raise $41,500 while they celebrate 26 years of service.
The first 300 participants raising $50 or more will receive a free Walk for AIDS T-shirt. A picnic reception with a DJ and dancing follows the walk on the House of Mercy grounds. Free STD/HIV testing will be offered.
For more information or to sign up to participate, visit the House of Mercy’s website.
info: thehouseofmercy.org.
Center seeks survey participants
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Freedom Center for Social Justice is seeking participants for its intergenerational work initiative.
Organizers from the center launched a listening session project across the various regions and communities of North Carolina. It engaged in intentional conversations to better understand intergenerational group dynamics in the community organizing efforts of its partners. As it delved deeper into these listenings, the guiding question that emerged was: In what ways do ideological differences contribute most to the barriers of sustainable intergenerational work, genuine collaborative spirits, and effective coalition building?
What they are seeking to learn from the survey is how to better understand attitudes, challenges and successes in intergenerational/intersectional social movement organizing. Their goal is to obtain 500 completed surveys with a time investment of approximately 5-10 minutes. It is available online at goo.gl/forms/QfAoxCC0fDOyLc6q2. The poll closes April 7.
In other news, the center welcomed new staff members Sam Poler and Lara Americo to its team. Poler will serve with headquarters administration and Americo will head up the “Yes, You Can Go” street teams across the state, as well as those of Charlotte/Gastonia. The center is also hiring street team temporary/contract workers in the Triangle and Charlotte areas. More information is available online, along with application support.
info: fcsj.org.
Leaders net awards
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On March 24, Carolinas CARE Partnership presented three awards to local community and healthcare leaders for finding, developing and funding the path to the AIDS-free generation in the region.
T. Warren Wooten, AISC, a housing services operations manager for the City of Charlotte, received the Housing Champion Award for his efforts in advocating and solving problems focused on ending homelessness for those living with HIV/AIDS and the general population.
Ballantyne Family Medicine was the recipient of the Collaborative Spirit Award. J. Wesley Thompson acted as the representative for the practice in accepting the award which was given to Ballantyne for bringing the vision of collaboration to fruition, and opening their doors to all organizations.
The Trailblazer Award was presented to Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown, MD, senior vice president of community outreach, Novant Health and Dr. Alisahah Cole, Carolinas Healthcare System medical director for community health. They received the award for forging new paths in addressing health disparities and finding ways to change systems to work more effectively on behalf of those they serve. Together they laid the groundwork for the groundbreaking collaboration between Novant Health and Carolinas Healthcare System.
info: carolinascare.org.
Trans org gets community grant
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Transcend Charlotte was the recipient of a $5,000 grant given by the Unite Charlotte fund.
The fund was created in response to the civic unrest in Charlotte, N.C. last fall. Led by initial grants from Wells Fargo and Duke Energy, and facilitated by United Way and Foundation For The Carolinas, the fund supports programs and organizations focused on community healing, rebuilding trust and creating opportunities in Mecklenburg County. Unite Charlotte funders include Wells Fargo ($250,000), Knight Foundation ($150,000), Duke Energy ($100,000), Walmart Foundation ($50,000), Elevation Church ($25,000), Foundation For The Carolinas ($25,000), Charlotte WILL ($10,000) and Clariant ($10,000).
Sean Garrett, United Way’s executive director said, “After listening to people affected by Charlotte’s lack of opportunity, Unite Charlotte is investing in ideas positioned to address the community’s issues in innovative ways. Our region’s challenges go back generations, so there is no quick fix, but it’s a path forward in creating new solutions.”
Trey Greene, MSW, LCSWA, the co-founder and executive director of Transcend Charlotte said that he was excited to read about the grant when he heard about it through a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Greene felt that the grant “perfectly aligned with the mission that was behind Transcend Charlotte, the idea of coming together with other people and organizations to fight for more safe spaces, for social justice for people regardless of their identity, experiences, or beliefs.”
With only two weeks to prepare the application before the deadline in February, Greene worked quickly to pull it together. And, he is glad he did. His organization had “been looking for some funding to help with [the] move into Time Out Youth’s space and improving [its] ability to provide quality services. This grant will be used primarily towards that end,” Greene added.
“Being in Time Out Youth’s space will allow youth to have access to our closet, more hours of access for the community in general, and it will create more opportunities for youth who age out of Time Out Youth’s programs to get to know us and know that there are adult resources and groups available. We are working on upgrading the TransCloset to add more basic needs items such as hygiene products and toiletries for adults in the community who may be homeless or don’t have resources to buy the things they need. We are also working on improving our support group and workshops services. With the latter, we are getting an increasing number of requests to do education in and out of state, so this funding can be used to assist us with being able to provide workshops when the recipients are unable to pay for travel and other expenses that may prevent us from being able to fulfill those needs.” Greene said.
He concluded by saying, “We cannot express how much gratitude we feel towards United Way of the Central Carolinas for believing in the work we are doing and backing our efforts to improves the lives of transgender and gender nonconforming people in our community.”
Additional Unite Charlotte grants are expected to be deployed after second-round applications open this summer. In the interim, United Way will work with applicants from the first round who had promising ideas but didn’t meet all the grant requirements.
info: uwcentralcarolinas.org. transcendcharlotte.org.
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Does your organization or special interest group have events or great information to share with our readers? If so, be sure to send in your information to specialassignments@goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com. In the upcoming months, we’ll feature one of you in our news notes section in each issue. Are you a part of a Meetup, Yahoo or Google group and do you do something that’s really newsworthy? Do you provide a service for the community or hold fundraisers for worthy causes? Do you educate the public about LGBT issues or concerns? Of course, this is only a sampling of things we are interested in. It’s the aim of these pieces to inform, enlighten and educate our readers about what we’re doing here in the Carolinas to champion LGBT rights, as well as offer resources for those who may be interested in what your group is doing.